2014: Days of Caring
by He-Jay
Summary: Every 14th of each month is dedicated to romance, people who are searching for love (or not, doesn't matter), etc. Not even the Grand Chase is an exception when the time comes to show each other how much they care (or not care). Will (hopefully) be updated monthly depending.


In Korea, every 14th of the month is a day dedicated to couples and singles that are looking for romance~

January 14th – **Diary Day**

"_Couples or friends give each other the gift of blank pages for the new year. _

_It's said that girls usually do this to encourage their boyfriends to write about their time together."_

* * *

**Blueberry Journal**

Elesis wasn't sure about this whole diary/journal thing. In fact, she wasn't sure how the queens of Bermesiah came up with twelve romance-themed holidays for every 14th of each month. Under Amy and Arme's non-stop nagging and partly of her own feminine heart (although if you directly confronted her about it, she would vehemently deny it), she did manage to buy a notebook and would have been happy enough to leave it discreetly by Ronan's door.

But where was the fun in that? And besides—

"Elesis, what is this?" Amy held up the said notebook in horror, flipping through the blank pages. "You can't give this to Ronan!"

"Why not?" she growled, swiping for the journal. "Give it back!"

Amy tossed the book towards Arme, who barely saved it from hitting the ground by levitating it with her hand. "The cover is plain, there's nothing in the pages...you really don't know how to do this, do you?"

Elesis by now was looking pretty steamed, and Arme ran to her older sister-figure for protection and understanding. "Lire, look! You're the only one to make her listen, tell her she needs to be more romantic than this!"

The Red Knight skidded to a halt as Arme and Amy hid behind the elf calmly flipped through the journal. "It's _not_ romantic! You can do your mushy stuff with Ryan!"

"Elesis, this is a nice gift for Ronan."

She turned to Lire, half-surprised, half-embarrassed. "You think so?"

"But there's nothing special about it. This can easily be mixed up with hundreds of other papers and journals in the castle. How would Ronan know that this is meant for him especially?" Lire showed the white cover, emphasizing her point.

"You can maybe stamp the crest of the Kanavan Royal Guard on the cover, maybe colour in a navy border. Navy's his favourite colour, right?"

"It's indigo." Elesis mumbled, taking the journal from Lire.

"Ooh, Elesis you know his favourite colour! So you do something else on your mind other than swords and monsters! How sweet of you!" Arme chirped.

"Come on, is it that hard?" Amy rolled her eyes. "As if his uniform isn't that blatantly obvious."

"We all dress in our favourite colours! We're like a giant Skittles party with our hair and clothes and—"

Gently shoving the two younger girls aside, Lire spoke to Elesis, "Just make sure he can recognize that it's for him. And this is your chance to tell him anything you have to say to him." she winked before jumping out the window; a habit she had picked up from Lass.

Something she had to say to him, huh...

"So, Elesis..." Arme grinned. "How are you going to make Ronan's diary _special_?"

"None of your business, shorty."

* * *

Elesis had little problem acquiring an official Kanavan document from the Knight Master under the pretence of reviewing the National Guard Treaty. Since she couldn't defile the actual contract and the official Kanavan Royal Guard stamp was well, in Kanavan, she decided to draw the emblem herself. Armed with a feather quill and a jar of blueberry juice she took from the kitchens, she set to work.

Lire was more than happy that Elesis had taken her advice, but she stubbornly refused to help directly. "This is to Ronan not from me." she said whenever Elesis complained. "It must be completely from you!"

"Hmph!"

Elesis knew how to handle swords. She, the Saviour of Bermesiah, could wield dual weapons, long-range spears, and even double-edged blades. She could use pens to a fair degree; being the leader of Grand Chase came with a ton of papers, contracts, treaties, and other documents to sign and write. But she didn't do art. Worse, she didn't paint counterfeit crests of the Kanavan Royal Guard.

"Dammit, this isn't working!" she cried out in frustration as she slammed the feather pen into the jar, causing it to smash everywhere in an explosion of purplish-blue juice. "# #$%!"

"Elesis, you're thinking too hard." Lire gently extricated the brush from a frustrated knight. "The seal doesn't have to be perfect; it's the fact that you're trying that will show Ronan that—"

"That the leader of the Grand Chase has terrible artsy skills?" Elesis mumbled, forgetting Lire's elf ears.

"No, that you care." The elder looked up, serene. "You could have hired a diplomat to get the official seal with the finest painters of Kanavan to draw everything, but this," she held up the blotched journal, "is all made by you. This journal wasn't made for anyone else except him, right? And that would be more than enough for him, really."

"How do you know?" Elesis frowned. "And why would he care so much?"

_Because it's clearly obvious how much he adores you and worships the ground you walk on?_

"Because we're all friends, and you are a special girl. Now let's try again, and this time, I'll help you. Just this once."

...

"Thanks, Lire. Is it done now?"

"Hm...did you write anything for him?"

"Huh?"

"Write anything you want to say to him privately. He's probably not going to show this to anyone. So tell him anything you want him to know."

"Hm..."

* * *

Being the Guard Knight Captain/Master, Ronan had his share of adoring female townsfolk that sent him numerous tokens of affection, which he would politely give away to the servants and maids who would find a better use for them. (Just wait till Valentine's Day.) He was not surprised to see another gift that was...poorly wrapped in crinkled red tissue paper that was barely kept from falling apart by red yarn tied around it...

He opened the parcel; he had seldom received presents that were so intriguingly packaged.

Ronan guessed that the notebook must have been pristinely white in the beginning before being killed by a barrage of blue paint that smelled like...blueberries? The swirl of the colours did look pretty once he got over the initial shock, but he had no idea what the blobby octopus splattered in the middle was supposed to mean. He opened it to see a message scrawled in the first page with a messy handwriting he knew way too well:

_If you show this to anyone else I will whoop you back to Kanavan. Oh, and next time we spar, wear a headband; the way you flip your hair back is girly as -. Still, you're worth keeping around so if you leave the Grand Chase I'll [insert unholy threats that Ronan could not read aloud]. I'll be waiting in the training grounds at dawn to take you down hahahahahaha._

"Elesis..." Ronan shook his head, face turning pink. Whether that was from humiliation or pure joy, who knew? But Ronan took the red tissue paper, the string, and the journal into his room, locking the door behind him with a firm _click_. Outside was cold, but he couldn't stop smiling in warmth as he waited for dawn.

* * *

**XXX**

**Frustration with Journals**

Lass didn't do diaries. Lire knew perfectly well he wasn't one to write anything he didn't want others to know onto paper. But the elf was persistent in having him record at least the menial events of his days for several other reasons; perhaps it would replace the grisly and horrific ghosts of the pasts that still haunted him even now, and Lire was subtle in implying that his (as well as hers) days with the Grand Chase was finite, as far-off as the day might be.

He had stubbornly refused to write in his journal, and Lire couldn't help but sigh in frustration, also feeling a little hurt. Seeing him brood and suffer alone...despite so much battle, bloodshed, and tears, he still didn't trust them. He still didn't trust her.

"Then I'll take it." She quietly reached for the journal she had given to him earlier, taking it gently from his hands. "I'll write for both of us, our time together."

She didn't spare a second glance as she walked away.

He felt like hitting something. Whenever they fought, almost always he was the first one to raise his voice, to be quick to anger. She seldom raised her voice more than a sharp tone that he really hated, and never touched him physically. She was rare with insults, as heightened emotions made her switch to her elven language that he could barely understand (although some words he had heard enough to understand what was going on)

She understood that he still had difficulty opening up to others, even to her sometimes. He understood that sometimes her patience ran thin, sometimes he was stupid enough to make her angry. But still she stayed, always on his side.

Gods...did he even deserve someone like her?

What would she write in that diary? Would she write that she hated him, was tired of staying by him? All of a sudden he wanted to know.

* * *

**XXX**

**Picture Journals**

Like Lass, Ryan wasn't much for writing his innermost feelings into paper, or in his case, dead trees. But Arme was pretty smart: the said journal was roughly the size of a notepad with the pages made of 100% recycled paper (he appreciated that.)

He didn't have the heart to tell Arme that he hated writing...of any kind. He was a Druid born to fight and protect, not a scribe. His sister Lian taught him basic elvish and the common trading tongue of the surrounding Serdin villages for selling herbs and natural medicines. He learned the alphabet that way, and eventually learned to sign his name.

But he didn't do writing beyond that, really...

So when Arme peeked in his journal(and many more attempts would be made throughout), the pages had stick people drawn everywhere with captions of no more than five words per page, all signed by Rocco's paw print at the bottom.

Ryan didn't understand why Arme would shake her head and sigh every time he saw her.

* * *

**XXX**

**Amy's Journal**

_2014.1.14._

_I gave Jin his diary today. He looked so happy!_

_...I have never seen anyone faint of happiness before, though. It was too bad he didn't notice the stray rock coming for him. I hope he doesn't stay in the infirmary for too long, he hates it when he has to be cooped up in a bed..._

_I just hope he writes in it! Hehehehe~ it was so fun teasing Elesis today! Hee hee hee!_

* * *

**XXX**

**Asin's Journal (Dedicated to Jin)**

He flipped through the empty pages with a bored expression on his face. Just what was the goddess up to now?

"You write whatever you want, stupid." she had said as she stuck out her tongue. "Just do it."

"Why? So you can creep on me?"

"Ugh, why do you have to be so...asdfghjkl! If you don't want it, give it back!" she swiped for it.

He held the book out of her reach, grinning. "Too bad."

She looked up, her eyes lighting. "So you're keeping it then?"

Asin _could _have thrown it in the trash when she wasn't around, but even the fox wasn't that heartless. He had seen the goddess truly hurt when one of his insults went too far, and it wasn't really a pleasant feeling...

...and besides, it was a gift. Master Tairin was the only one who had ever given him gifts as far as he could remember. So...

In the privacy of his room, where not one Chaser would see, he took out the journal and began to write:

_I should throw more rocks at him. Seeing him and the pumpkin moon at each other like that shrivels my insides in the most distasteful thing I have ever laid my eyes on. He still refuses to accept my challenges, to put our talents to the test. He is strong, but why did Master Tairin regard a spineless fool as one of his greatest students?_

_...[continued writing]_

_He has an aversion for pimentos and anything else the pumpkin despises...coke...and the pink airhead...hehe...they don't even stand a chance._

It seemed Rin had given a good gift.

* * *

**XXX**

"Ryan." Lass rarely approached other Chasers of his own will unless he needed something. Ryan knew that well.

"Yeah?" He didn't bother jumping off the branch he was sitting on, knowing the ninja could climb up just as easily as him.

In a heartbeat, he was leaning against the bark, standing nimbly on the tree branch the elf was on. "You speak elvish, right?"

Ryan grinned. "Me? An elf? Who's been living in Elven Forest this whole time? Gee, I don't know."

"Good. Teach me." He sat down, crossing his arms.

Taken aback, Ryan raised his eyebrows as he stretched, got up, and jumped to a thicker branch. "Why?"

"I just want to learn."

He didn't add the part where he wanted to read Lire's diary, which was written entirely in elvish. The only English was in the bottom, where Lire had written an insulting message just for him to read.

The Druid swung backwards so he hung upside-down, flashing a toothy grin. "No can do, man. Lire told me you'd come to me specifically for that purpose, and she said if I teach you so much as a word she's gonna nail me flat."

Damn.


End file.
